October 2023

15 October 2023 – Despite many challenges in recent years, South African wines continue to receive global recognition for their high quality, according to Wines of South Africa (WoSA), the export marketing council for the SA wine industry. “Wine critics, and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the positive reputation and quality of South African […]

13 October 2023 -The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) Business Confidence Index (BCI) continues to “lack substantial upward momentum”, the chamber said on October 12, reporting that the index stood at 108.2 in September. This compares with a level of 108.6 in August. The BCI for September was also 2.7 index points below the

12 October 2023 – As they navigate through the latter half of 2023, freight forwarders are vigilantly eyeing three primary business challenges: the looming spectre of a possible recession, intricate geopolitical risks, and the escalation of operating costs. However, they are maintaining a buoyant outlook amid this complex landscape, anticipating an upswing in volumes within

11 October 2023 – A probable US recession in 2024 spells bad news for South Africa’s already struggling economy. According to RMB’s Chief Economist and Head of Research, Isaah Mhlanga, global asset classes had negative returns in August due to the rise in long-term US bond yields. The US 10-year bond yield grew to 4.8%

10 October 2023 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that global economic growth will slow markedly in 2023, even though it continued to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and the shocks from the Russia-Ukraine war. In its World Economic Outlook (WEO) report today, the IMF said global growth will slow from 3.5% in

9 October 2023 – Projections for growth in global merchandise trade in 2023 have been scaled back by WTO economists amid a continued slump that began in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the latest WTO trade forecast released on October 5. The volume of world merchandise trade is now expected to grow by

6 October 2023 – Allianz, which provides commercial insurance in South Africa, unveiled the 14th edition of its “Global Wealth Report”, which puts the asset and debt situation of households in almost 60 countries under the microscope. Annus horribilis 2022 was an annus horribilis for savers. Asset prices fell across the board in the “everything slump”

5 October 2023 – The Western Cape’s agricultural sector has been hard hit by heavy rains — the province accounts for more than two-thirds of South Africa’s winter crops and a large share of wine grapes and various horticulture products. The Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) said yesterday that the rainfall peak was around Bredasdorp in

04 October 2023 – The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has called on poultry farmers to intensify their biosecurity measures as the country is dealing with a number of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 and H7 outbreaks. As of September 21, a total of 50 HPAI H7 outbreaks and 10

3 October 2023 – The Ctrack Transport and Freight Index retreated further during August 2023 to an index level of 118.8, the lowest since February (116.7). This represents a decrease of 1.5% during the month of August, the third consecutive monthly contraction and confirmation of the ongoing strain in the logistics sector. This retraction is